


If We Suddenly Fall, Should I Scream Out?

by lordbatty



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alien AU, Alien Invasion, Alien apocalypse AU, Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Blood and Injury, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Gentle Kissing, Gunshot Wounds, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Journal Entries, No Sex, Other, Past Character Death, Slow Burn, Starkie (implied), Surprise Kissing, Teen Romance, Teenagers, The 5th Wave (book series), The 5th Wave AU, Tom and Marco know each other, Trans Female Character, Trans Marco Diaz, tomco - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordbatty/pseuds/lordbatty
Summary: Aliens are real. They're tearing the world apart one planned disaster at a time and spinning everything Marco Diaz once knew around onto its head.The one thing she didn't expect out of all this was for one of them to find her.She also didn't expect to actually have already known one of them.And she DEFINITELY hadn't planned on falling in love with one of them.
Relationships: Marco Diaz & Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco Diaz/Tom Lucitor, Star Butterfly & Marco Diaz, Star Butterfly/Jackie Lynn Thomas
Comments: 14
Kudos: 31





	1. Slipping Off the Course We Prepared

**Author's Note:**

> (Songs listened to for the entirety of this fic: "The Kids Aren't Alright" by FOB, "Meet Me In the Woods" by Lord Huron, "Medication" by Nick Murphy, "Death" by White Lies, "Not As We" by Alanis Morrisette, "We Must Be Killers" by Mikky Ekko, "Follow the Leader" by Matthew Ryan, "World On Fire" by Les Friction, "Come And Get Me" by Sleeping Wolf, "Silhouettes" by Of Monsters And Men, "Various Storms & Saints" by Florence + The Machine, "Gone" by Beth Crowley, "Could We Survive" by Joseph Arthur, "Bang" by Armchair Cynics, & "The Hunted" by David Westlake)
> 
> So I literally ended up writing 5 chapters in ONE DAY (yesterday, 03/16/2020) because for whatever reason, I could NOT get this AU out of my head and knew that I both had to and wanted to write this. If you've not either seen the movie adaptation or read any of The 5th Wave books by Rick Yancey and alien sci-fi mixed with teenagers is your kind of thing, then I ABSOLUTELY recommend both. The movie is a little more lack-luster than the books, so I recommend watching that AFTER the books, but if you can't get your hands on the books for the time being, I think it'll be a nice introduction piece since they did leave a few things out, but also nailed the important points on the head.
> 
> I basically crammed everything the movie is about, along with loss of friends and family, into a summary for this fic and went straight for Main Characters Pining For Each Other And End Up Having This Odd But Romantic Relationship Anyway While Also Creating A Master Plan For Saving Their Friends trope. Because it worked so well for Tomco and LISTEN. Alien!Tom? That's an AU I hadn't seen yet! 
> 
> So while you enjoy this fic, and aren't sure about a lot of the goings ons because I didn't have the head space to literally write the WHOLE series out into a planned fic, I super duper recommend giving the movie a go or all of the books a read! I couldn't put the series down and I plan to do a complete re-read of it again soon.
> 
> For now, enjoy, I hope it's not TOO confusing, and happy reading! ♥

* * *

_ The last time I saw Jackie Lynn Thomas and Star Butterfly was in the Echo Creek high school gym. That was before everything turned to chaos. I didn’t even know if they were still alive, weeks later as I ran for my life through unfamiliar wooded areas way off the coast where we used to all live. _

_ My hair was a tangled mess of the highest ponytail I could manage, my brown leggings torn up under dirty jean shorts from all of the tumbles and slips I’d made within a forty-eight hour time span. I had, thankfully, layered black spaghetti strap under my lightweight pink-and-grey Henley the day everything went south. My trusty red hoodie was wrapped around my waist, and to be completely honest: these old brown Vans had seen better days. (It’s important that you know all of this, whoever is reading.) _

_ But who cares about looks when you’re constantly running from danger, looking over your shoulder every second of the day all the while you’re planning your next move, knowing very well that they could also be following those same moves? _

_ They? Oh, that would be The Added. Yeah, really clever name, I know. If there was one thing I would have changed in addition to all this, was to change the name. Following that would be knowing where or what happened to my friends, and bringing my parents back. Actually, having food would also be a nice change of pace, but I’m not counting on that anytime soon. Not unless I happen to come across another corner store or abandoned taco restaurant within a mile’s radius. _

_ In fact, I’m not even sure where I am anymore. Whether I’m still in Echo Creek or the next town over, I couldn’t even begin to tell you. I haven’t seen a street or city line sign in days. Weeks? Shoot, I don’t even know what day it is right now. . . _

Marco sighed in frustration, leaning her head back against the tall pine tree that supported her upright. Being in the thick of the woods, surrounded by both oaks and pines was lonely enough, but now that her thoughts began to betray the words she wrote down in a battered up red notebook, it was becoming harder to think straight for herself. With cell service down on every corner of the globe, and nowhere to plug in her phone for an accurate date and time, Marco had wished she’d at least smuggled a watch that told both the time  _ and _ the date. Maybe there was still hope for that if she kept moving north. 

Setting her pen down, brightly colored in pink and blue with little stars on it, Marco tightened her ponytail before tightness in her chest had a chance to take over. She missed Star. She missed Jackie. She missed, well,  _ everyone _ . And she didn’t even know how much of everyone was  _ left _ . Not since The Added arrived. 

She remembered that day vividly. It was quiet, the arrival, and on a clear blue-skied day just like any other day before it. Everyone went to work as normal, everyone went to school as usual. The entirety of Echo Creek was captivated, and the news kept tabs on the events that followed the initial arrival, but its citizens went on their day as normally as ever.

But it’s hard to plan for what comes next. Especially when the plan you  _ thought  _ you had completely turns around on its head. 

The first thing to go after three days of silence, was the power. All of it, gone in seconds. Phones, electricity, cars . . . their EMP killed everything that was taken for granted without warning in the blink of an eye. That was the day Marco remembered seeing Jackie Lynn Thomas and Star Butterfly for the last time. Along with the rest of her friends and near everyone she knew in her little coastal town. 

The second thing that went was literally the wiping of every corner of the globe from her hometown to the farthest reaches of the United Kingdom, Asia, and so on. Earthquakes in LA and New York, tsunamis that overpowered even the previous records held in regions where the water and coastal regions were abundant. There was no more messing around: humanity was in trouble, and most of the population around the globe had diminished in seconds of these natural disasters. As quickly as the flash floods had come, and as brief as the earthquakes were, it was over. And suddenly everyone was looking for  _ someone _ .

The third was probably the most terrifying to Marco herself. Disease and infection as far as the eye could see. A virus too quick to contain, not easy to combat, and unfortunately, too heavy to control. A lot of people died while waiting in quarantine lines. Even more people didn’t even get to  _ make it _ to the quarantine lines. That’s when she’d finally lost the next of the many close ones in her life. Marco never thought she’d see the day when she’d have to bury her own parents so soon, but it happened. And that’s when she decided it was time to run; for as long and as far as she could possibly make it. She’d spent enough time waiting around for her friends to show up, alive and well. It was time to be selfish, because there were no other options left.

But then suddenly, the fourth and fifth things began to grow suspicious. People were disappearing quickly, mostly that being of children between the ages of three and eighteen. Marco herself, being seventeen, had witnessed during a short lived time in a so-called refugee camp, kids boarding buses to a “safe zone” with a mass of military personnel. No explanations, no straight answers as to how or why, and a lot of kids being thrown onto buses and escorted away while the adults stayed behind. And when the adults stayed behind, there followed a massacre. It was clear to her then that The Added didn’t need adults. And that was somehow more terrifying to think about than the previous incidents that occurred.

Marco had decided that enough was enough, and started her not-very-well thought out plan with nothing but the clothes on her back, a backpack containing very minimal supplies, and her notebook. 

That had been, what seemed like a whole month ago, but really was only a few days in between. And in those few days, someone or  _ something _ had been tracking her every move. Following her. 

She’d first noticed The Tracker on the highway. Most of the military personnel were nowhere within a mile radius of leftover cities and towns. There were very little survivors, so they had no reason to stick around. 

So who was left? Exactly.

Marco wished that she would have gotten a better look at them. But the binoculars that she had grabbed from her house and shoved into her backpack didn’t quite reach that far. From the safety behind an abandoned car looking out towards an overpass above the deserted highway she stood, Marco had damn well tried to make out the shape and features of her stalker. This way, she would know what she was looking for every move she made.

The problem was, she could only make out a black tight-fitting undershirt with a high neck and thumb holes at the ends of the sleeves, a faded dark brown-and-green camo canvas jacket with the sleeves rolled at the elbows, black painted fingernails, a studded choker, pierced ears, and thick windswept copper colored hair. Nothing else other than those fine details is all she had to work with. It didn’t help that whoever it was had been hiding their face behind a tranquilizer gun. Which in it of itself, was absolutely  _ fantastic _ to know.

Because now she was a moving target, to whoever this was. Marco could only guess and assume that in the grand scheme of things, it was more than likely one of  _ them _ . An Added was on her trail and for what?

“Perfect,” she mumbled to herself, running a hand down her face. “Absolutely perfect.”

So what was her next plan? More running; more heading north. And more hoping that maybe  _ anyone _ else she knew had the same idea and eventually by some miraculous power above, they would find each other again. 

Marco took a few moments to gather in the silence of the wooded area around her, ears alert to any sounds of footsteps or breathing other than her own before packing up her notebook and pen back into her backpack, unwillingly getting back onto her feet. The red and silver metal watch on her wrist read 5:27pm, which meant the sun was going to go down soon and she only had enough food to get her through for tonight.

Which  _ also  _ meant that she would have to leave the safety of the trees around her and get back onto the highway in search of the next town over, ripe with abandoned stores and houses in search of sustenance to get her through.

“Again,” Marco muttered to herself, securing her trusty red hoodie around her waist. “Absolutely perfect. Just great.”

She took in a deep breath, gripping the straps of her backpack before taking the first determined steps back towards silent, cold civilization. Whether or not she was the last person alive either in the entire city or  _ world,  _ one thing was for sure: Marco Diaz was running out of both time and ideas. 

And that was a very dangerous place for a teenager to be, in a world filled with unnerving silence and uncertainty. 


	2. What Do We Know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tomco begins! >:3
> 
> So now that ALL parts have been written and edited, I will be posting one chapter per day until we get to the 5th and final part! I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope other people will enjoy it over time, too.
> 
> Enjoy, and happy reading! ♥

_I think I’ve finally recounted my days right. And if I am actually right, it’s been nearly two weeks already, even though it’s felt longer. And right now, I only have enough rationed food for roughly three days._

_Here’s the thing about humanity: once The Added took a firm grip on the reality around you, you realize that you’re starting to slip and there’s nothing you can do to get that control back. You do and say things you never would before. You can’t trust anyone you come across anymore. Your humanity? Gone. But who’s to say we even really ever had it in the first place? Maybe that’s the whole reason they came. We are, and can be, a very pitiful race._

_And here I am, a girl of seventeen years old with a world that’s fallen silent, a backpack half full of hopes, and now blood on my hands. Because I didn’t think rationally for a second before acting. I stopped being the Echo Creek proclaimed ‘Safe Kid’. Oh, how far I have fallen from those days of looking both ways before crossing streets, and making sure my shoes were_ both _double knotted._

_That’s just another thing we, as humans, also seem to so easily fail at: dropping your guard when you know darn well you shouldn’t be._

_So how do you rid the world of humanity? Easy: you pit them against each other until there’s nothing left. You make them afraid of their own world and its uncertainties. The Added hardly had to do anything other than simply just_ begin. _The rest was up to us, and look at where that got everyone. Dead or missing._

 _And me? Well, I’ve got a gunshot wound in my leg. And though I’ve done my best to wrap it up tightly with one of my shirts, it’s not going to last. I’ve already let out too much blood and it’s trailed behind me every step of the way. If I don’t bleed out and die first, they’re_ going _to find me. Especially my Tracker . . . who, might I add, was the one who took the shot. So much for using a tranq gun anymore. I guess they’re tired of messing around with the only human left within a mile radius._

_They’re out for blood now. Quite literally._

_And me? Well I’m fresh out of ideas._

Marco closed the notebook with hands covered in dried-on blood, hot tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Her right leg throbbed, it burned, and every now and again it would surge with searing hot pain no matter what she did. Move it, and run the risk of screaming out in pain and being found. Don’t move it, you run the risk of furthering the obvious infection that would slowly eat away at her entire leg until it was useless. She had to keep moving, but the thought alone made her want to cry harder. 

She was trapped. And she knew that The Tracker knew it as well.

Marco hadn’t even seen them lurking around the corner when she’d exited the only store in sight. She’d been too careless, too comfortable with the secure silence around her. She had let her guard down for a few moments, and it quickly had become her biggest mistake. 

One thing had saved her, though, while the shots kept coming. Having the ability to at least roll under a low-sitting car, Marco had bought herself time as the shots became four, then three, then two, then none. And judging by the seconds that ticked by and the trail of blood streaked onto the road, Marco figured that maybe her Tracker assumed her dead. Because after another few moments of painful, silent crying, the comfortable, still silence came back. 

Her chocolate brown eyes filled with painful, hot tears, Marco had braved peering around the tire nearest to her by the front bumper, only to find that she was once again very much alone. 

Alone and in _trouble_.

After painfully dragging herself out from under the car, Marco leaned exhaustingly against the car that saved her life, ripping open a hole in her leggings to get to the bloodied wound, her hands already covered in the stickiness of her mistake. She’d untied her faithful red hoodie to shove a balled up sleeve into her mouth while she dug out the first aid kit, and in turn, agonizingly popped the bullet out of her skin.

She couldn’t remember if she’d screamed or not.

For now, the packed gauze drenched in alcohol was doing its job. An absolute horror to jam into the open wound at the time for sure, but it quickly quelled the bleeding for the time being. And one ripped long sleeved shirt later, her injury was snugly tied off enough for her to limp off back to the safety of the woods and trees that had been home.

Marco’s exhausted gaze drifted up towards the clear, starry skies above. Bundled up in her hoodie and the only blanket she had on her person, she could only hope that she was alone. She hadn’t heard any snapping twigs or other sounds that would otherwise alert her as not being as alone as she had once presumed. 

The thing is, the Added had cameras. Surveillance that were airborne with these little drones that had both sound and heat signatures. She’d only seen a few of them flying around these woods since leaving the last refugee camp she’d been at. Sometimes they were stupidly easy to hide from; but then if you stumble upon the grounded surveillance drones, then you might as well kiss the rest of your life goodbye.

Marco had been, so far up until this point of getting shot, lucky.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Marco sighed softly, closing her eyes. “I don’t even know where I’m going. I don’t know who’s following me, and I don’t even know if you guys are still alive. . . “

A cool breeze rustled the trees above and around her, making Marco’s eyes re-open to face the cold world surrounding her. She moved the blanket up further under her chin, the throbbing of an uncertain fate of a gunshot wound in her leg turning into a dull sort of pain. Giving up would be so easy right now, and Marco hated herself for being one of those people who _never_ gave up.

_Snap!_

Dread rose in Marco’s chest, immediately followed by adrenaline and fear. She threw the blanket off, quickly reaching onto her backpack for the only weapon she could manage to bring along with her besides her knowledge befitting that of a red belt level in karate: a metal bat.

Surrounding her was nothing but pure and unforgiving darkness. Above her, was an endless clear sky of stars, and at least two surveillance drones heading her way with their unforgiving green scanning beacon, the only light source for miles. The panic began to spread throughout Marco’s body, and before she could even begin to remember that she had a severely injured leg, she hastily shoved the blanket into her backpack and slung the bag over her shoulder before gripping the bat with both hands, limp-running into the darkness that lay endless before her.

And as if the luck of Marco Diaz couldn’t be _that_ much more run dry, someone darted out right into her path with a dim flashlight and a hunting rifle strapped around their chest, complete with a sniper scope just peeking out from over their shoulder.

Marco skidded to a stop, nearly slipping down onto her injured leg in the process, a gasp caught in her throat, knuckles white around the handle of her bat against her dark complexion. She knew those clothes. She knew those piercings, she knew that hair. 

_Shit._

“Don’t swing,” the voice came out calm, smooth, and attractive which made Marco _want_ to swing even more. His skin was pale, freckles decorating his cheeks and a little bit on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were dark amber color, almost blood red in the dimness between them. Smudged eyeliner streaked under his lower eyelids, and an almost too-confident and trusting smile spread across his face, showing perfectly white teeth as he slowly reached a hand out.

Everything about this screamed danger, but so did the hovering green lights quickly approaching behind them. 

“Give me one reason why I _shouldn’t_ ,” Marco answered breathlessly, hoisting the weapon higher above her head.

“Well those, for one,” the stranger before her retracted his outstretched hand and pointed to the oncoming drones. “I know you don’t have any reason to trust me after I shot you-”

“ _You what_?!” Marco shrieked, suddenly alerting the scanning drones to their exact spot.

“Alright, Marco, you leave me no choice,” the boy in front of her spoke with an exhaustive sigh, an eye roll matching almost a little too well.

“How did you know- hey!” Marco shouted as the Tracker stepped closer towards her and with one quick movement, slipped the bat out of her hand. 

And before she could protest even further, another quick hand was quickly brought over her mouth while he made an extremely smooth and swift turn away from where they were standing to the both of them crouching low against a very wide oak tree. Marco suddenly found herself pressed tightly against her Tracker’s body with her heart thudding so loudly in her chest, she was sure that the drones were going to pick it up and shoot them both dead right then and there.

“Don’t move,” he spoke in the faintest whispers against her ponytail that Marco herself even barely heard. He still had her bat gripped in his other hand, himself remaining so still that if Marco wasn’t directly pressed against his upper body, she would have thought that he wasn’t breathing at all. 

A single second passed, then two seconds, then three, then a whole minute of heart-pounding scanning and mechanical whirring passed as Marco found herself at the mercy and safety of her Tracker. And oh, what a dangerous spot to be in. 

_Trust no one, Marco_ , was the motto she had been living by ever since the first event unfolded. And now she was in the tumultuous conflict of trusting the very person who not only shot her, but had been following her for who knows how long after she had begun to run.

“Okay,” the voice startled Marco after having 60 seconds of complete silence save for the whirring of the drones around them and the rustling of trees above them. “It’s clear, I think.”

Marco ripped her face away from the very hand that delivered the wound in her leg, hands reaching over to yank the bat back into her possession as she scrambled painfully to her feet, though she tried not to show _him_ that. “Good. Now get away from me before I bash your brains in.”

“With that leg, I doubt you’ll be doing much of anything,” he responded with a raised eyebrow, getting to his feet as well. Rightly smart of him, though, he held both hands up being at the mercy of an injured pretty girl with a bat in her hands. 

Marco snorted with the shake of her head, keeping her distance as much as possible while also trying to keep light on her injured leg. “Well that would be your fault now, wouldn’t it?”

“While you have a point, can I at least explain myself?” The Tracker frowned, crossing his arms across his chest a little too casually.

Marco actually laughed this time, its lightness echoing off the trees around them. “Oh yeah, this should be _really_ good. How about you start with how you know my name and who you are.”

“Fair, and also way too easy of an answer,” he spoke calmly, never breaking eye contact with Marco. “Well, for starters, we already know each other. But I haven’t exactly been around lately, though, so.”

He paused then, almost as if he was trying to read her, to see if there was any recognition on her face. Though, to be fair, for the better half of the past year, he hadn’t exactly been _available_. So it was no surprise to him when Marco’s expression went from angry to confused and concerned.

With a heavy sigh, The Tracker tossed his hands at his side, their gaze finally breaking away from each other as he rolled his eyes up towards the sky for a single moment as if asking for the heavens above to help him through this, then went back down towards his feet. “I’m Tom. Tom Lucitor.”

_I can’t tell you whether it was from blood loss, shock, adrenaline, or all three, but suddenly the bat slipped from my hands and the next thing I knew, I was feeling dizzy._

_And then nothing. Just like the night I tried to run in, and just like the world around me since this all began. Pure, unmatched nothingness everywhere you looked._

_Oh, but past Marco . . . this is the part where things really start to get interesting. And rest assured, you’ve barely even begun to live through all of this. Now you have to deal with your heart of uncertainty while staring down the face of a little friendly fire matched with a story you’ve_ got _to hear to believe._

_If you, in fact, will believe him at all._

_And I’ll let you in on a little secret, past Marco: you just don’t have the heart to tell him ‘No’._


	3. Follow the Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more parts left to go! Personally this was my FAVORITE chapter to write. A lot of journal speak from Marco, a Tomco spaghetti dinner by an electric fireplace . . . yeah this chapter basically has all the slow burn pining and fluff that you could want while also keeping you on your toes!
> 
> Enjoy, and happy reading! ♥

_ I can’t wrap my head around this. THIS first of all being Tom, Star’s ex-boyfriend Tom, yes THAT Tom. I further can’t even wrap my head around the story he feeds me, and what’s worse is that it all makes sense and I can’t understand that, either. _

_ Which means _

_ 1: that I am in deep trouble because I just can’t seem to look at him and argue his story _

_ 2: I’m now indebted to him for saving my life, even though HE SHOT ME IN THE LEG. _

_ And, 3: I am one girl in very deep trouble. Maybe. _

_ So much for hoping to run into either of my best friends. Now I’m suddenly shacked up in his secluded, luxurious three story home that his dead or lost (he didn’t exactly give me  _ that  _ little detail) parents owned, deep in the suburbs waiting for my leg to heal. Which also means that I’m stuck inside for who knows how long with, and you’re going to laugh at this, one of THEM. _

_ That’s right. Thomas Lucitor, Star’s ex boyfriend and someone that we ALL knew for most of our teenage lives, was an Added this whole time. But get this again: not even HE was aware of it. No memories of a life before this one, but blurred images of a life that he was once a part of. And up until recent events, he wasn’t even sure WHY suddenly there was a rifle in his hands and orders for taking out whatever survivors were left. _

_ He was, for all intents and purposes, a recruited human hunter by all of those higher up Addeds. WHO, according to Tom, making up 97% of those military personnel taking away all those kids to  _ kill  _ the rest of humanity while being fed insanely wild lies about this whole entire operation.  _

_ I told you it was an extremely wild and insane story.  _

_ And now, past me, you have a decision to make. You can try to run for it (you can’t), you can try to disprove his story (you’re unable to), or you can simply go along for the ride with him and then plan your next move (you’re thinking about it). _

_ Because, despite everything leading up to this point, you  _ remember  _ Tom. You remember his comings and goings, you remember all the stories Star told you when they dated. You remember hanging out with him once or twice or more. You remember the person that you were once friends with, and maybe, unfortunately, developed a bit of a crush on. You remember  _ THAT  _ Tom. And while it  _ appears  _ that nothing has changed (he looks the same, though a little older, and sounds the same), you know deep down in your heart that there’s more to the surface of Tom Lucitor that you once knew. _

_ And sure, he shot you, but you’ve already kind of moved past that. Weirdly enough, you’ve accepted his apology  _ and  _ his help (not that you had a choice after you passed out in the woods) in a single heartbeat. What’s more confusing is that you accepted his wild story. And why wouldn’t you? The world already died off and you witnessed every single part of it. You witnessed things that you’ve only ever heard or read about in science fiction. Who’s to say that all those things couldn’t be true eventually? _

_ The world is upside down, and right now, past Marco, your head is spinning. And you’re feeling confused. But mostly, after a couple days that turn into a couple of weeks, you’re getting closer to Tom. Maybe a little  _ too  _ close. But you can’t help it. He’s always been captivating, friendly, and smooth.. You hadn’t seen him in nearly a year and never knew why. You’ve both once had your differences, but then you remember all those times you’ve hung out. You remember Tom from before the world began to end. Not the Tom you’re currently housed up with.  _

_ So you’re left to your own devices. While your heart and brain battle it out for clarity and defiance, your physical self remains cautious. Every little word, every little touch, every little movement. You’re alert, aware, careful, and maybe just a little bit intrigued. While he never seems to have it out for you, personally, he also doesn’t seem to agree with the whole of this world domination plan. He’s different, in some ways, than the rest of The Added weren’t. In some ways, he seems confused and guilty. He certainly feels that way towards shooting you in the leg now. And your reserve starts to feel unnecessary around him.  _

_ The trust starts to stand a little stronger than your doubt. And you can’t help but to wonder if there might just be a way to turn all of this around. You can’t help wonder if maybe, just maybe, Tom might just know exactly what happened to Star Butterfly and Jackie Lynn Thomas. _

_ So you ask. _

“If I had to guess,” Tom spoke slowly, setting down shiny black ceramic dinner plates onto the coffee table in front of Marco. She was currently laid up on the couch with a cushion under her injured leg which was now freshly re-bandaged, medicated, and healing. Tom’s house really did have everything, which would come from having rich parents to begin with, wherever they were now.

“They’re probably at the military base up north. Just a couple miles out from Echo Creek. Star and Jack are strong-willed people, I don’t see any reason as to why they would be killed. Especially since both are well within the age they’re looking for. I’d guess by now that they’ve been briefed, put in a squadron, and sent out.” 

Marco stayed quiet, her eyes following the silverware and plates being set down before her. The electric fireplace adjacent to the couch was on and warming up the room rather nicely. The giant screen TV overhead stayed off, and Tom was able to make do with a few battery operated lights and candles around the comfortable living room as well as in the kitchen for conveniences’ sake.

“We should go find them,” she finally said, the words sounding just as ridiculous as the thought that prefaced it.

Tom let out a soft laugh, a very genuine smile following it as he made his way back towards the kitchen to fetch their dinner. “You’re cute, Marco. But you don’t exactly know just how sealed tight that whole operation is.”

She felt her cheeks turn warm both out of embarrassment of her grand idea, and at the mention of Tom saying she was cute. “I didn’t say it was a smart idea. Just the right idea.”

“You mean the right thing to do,” Tom pointed out, bringing back hot bowls of spaghetti, meatballs, and steaming red pasta sauce. “Which sometimes isn’t always the  _ smartest  _ thing to do.”

Marco drew her eyebrows tightly together, a fixed look on her face that matched the fire in her eyes. “Wouldn’t Star say the same thing for you? For me? Wouldn’t she want to do the right thing, too?” 

Tom seemed to freeze in the moment, making him seem utterly and wholly human in the moment. His brows drew together as well, as if the question required much more concentration and complexity to answer. He set the bowls down onto the table across from the plates before sitting himself gently down onto the couch beside Marco, being careful of her legs and feet.

“She would,” he finally said after several seconds. “But you know Star. She doesn’t always think before she leaps.”

“That’s not the point,” Marco slowly scooted herself into a better sitting position so her legs didn’t take up so much couch space for Tom to actually be able to sit comfortably. “The point is that she would. And she would figure out a way to do it efficiently, given the time and instruction.” 

Tom’s entire expression drew concern, but also knowing. Maybe he also missed his friend. Star was an important person to the both of them, and Marco knew that she was right. More so, she knew that Tom would see it her way, especially if he really  _ was _ presenting the situation as a grand mistake that he didn’t want to be a part of anymore. He would see it her way, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, Marco knew that to be absolute.

“Fine,” Tom picked up the black plate nearest him, and leaning in close, their eyes locked as Marco felt the blood rush to her face, and her heart raced just a little bit quicker. “I’m in. But if we’re going to figure out  _ a way in,  _ then I’m going to need your undivided trust and attention. I need you to listen to me. And then I’ll listen to you.”

_ And you’ll just have to believe in him, past Marco. Because Star means just as much to him as she does to you. And you know without a single doubt that Jackie would rip you in half if you didn’t make the effort to come for her and her girlfriend. So you’ll agree to his plan, and he’ll agree to yours. You’ll shake hands on it, even though for some reason you  _ really  _ want to kiss him instead. And then you’ll share a home-made spaghetti and meatballs dinner in silence, because what else do you talk about?  _

_ What else is there to say? The road before you both is unsure and rife with danger. You’re not even entirely confident you’ll make it past the security measures. But you’re not going to let Tom know that. Especially since you’re the one who suggested this wild goose chase. _

_ You’re pining for more. You’ve already lost so much control of your world, and now there’s a chance to get it back. You’ve already let Tom in, trusted him, and gotten close to him again. You’ve already surrendered your heart and mind to a teenage boy who shot you in the leg who may or may not in fact be an Added. You’re still not sure if you believe a word he says. But you’re willing to put your head down under his foot for the sake of taking that control back and having sense put back into the world. _

_ You’ve given up your right to decide then, and you already know it’s too late to take it all back. You have, past Marco, given up the right to reserve where exactly your head and heart are both going. _

_ And in the end, you’ll know it’s up to him whether he’s going to stomp down over your head, or to take your hand and promise that no matter what, you’re both going to see through this to the end, alive and well. _

_ It’s up to you, past Marco. Because I already know what the answers are. And you can’t turn back. Because you can’t  _ afford  _ to. _

_ Your heart’s already been broken once, maybe twice, maybe more. You’re not willing to let it happen again. No matter who’s looking into your eyes and promising to not put another bullet in your leg. _


	4. Some Things You Let Go In Order To Live

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say that this was my second favorite part to write? I've found that writing journal narratives is really fun (and super easy), so that was one of the best parts of this chapter. The other part? Weeellll . . . 😏

_ I feel like an entire month has gone by. And according to Tom, that’s exactly what happened. A whole month since everything began, gone. And in that entire month, I have lost both of my best friends, watched my parents die, ran from a refugee camp after a group massacre, lived in the woods for about a week, been shot at, reunited with someone I hadn’t even considered to still be breathing, and now I have a fully healed leg, clean clothes, access to a hot shower, and have been eating more in a couple weeks than I had been in a single day out in the woods. _

_ If there’s one thing I wish that The Added would have done was to slow down time a little. Maybe then I would have  _ had  _ a little bit more time to spare. _

_ We’ve come up with our plan to get into the base. It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of holes in it, but if there’s one thing Tom assured me of was that he’s quick to think. He can fill in holes on his feet, and  _ usually  _ it works out for him. _

_ I’m not entirely sure how much I trust that usually part. _

_ My leg feels good as new, almost as if there hadn’t been anything there at all. The scar is bullet shaped and red, but it’s no longer bleeding and has long since seen it’s scabbing over days. It also hurts a lot less now, and I can see myself running through the woods once again with no problems if the need arises. _

_ Tomorrow, we leave the safety and comfort of Tom’s parent’s house for a mission that nearly seems impossible to achieve. But we’re both in agreement of the plans, and Tom has spent the better half of the past two weeks showing me how to fire a gun, shoot a bow and arrow, and how to actually use my metal bat if needed as an emergency backup. ‘No more swinging wildly’, had been his words. And if all else fails, maybe my karate will come in handy. _

_ Who knows anymore. _

“Marco?” Tom called from his bedroom down the hallway on the second floor, where there were four total bedrooms along with two full bathrooms in between his parent’s bedroom, his room, and hers. 

Marco’s door was open, having just finished her last shower before they took off. She’d already pulled on a pair of clean black leggings from her backpack along with the jean shorts Tom stumbled upon her wearing in the woods that night, and a clean short sleeved red pocket t-shirt. She’d just finished packing up the backpack for their journey ahead, gathering up her long, freshly washed and dried hair into a ponytail when Tom came into view through the doorway.

“Oh, hey,” she spoke softly, heart thudding quickly against her chest. She hoped that he hadn’t changed his mind or had any other important, last minute information she was going to have to try and remember. “I uh. Packed already. Just thought I’d take one last, luxurious hot shower before we left, you know?”

Tom seemed distracted for a moment, watching as Marco effortlessly gathered her gorgeous long hair into a well put high ponytail. She was every bit as pretty as the day he had to look at her through the hunting scope. And every other time before then, if his memory was serving him correctly.

He felt guilty for everything he had done, and he wasn’t sure why she had so willingly let him in and trusted him after their encounter in the woods, but was glad that she had. Maybe there was something different in him, after all. 

“I uhm, just wanted to,” Tom faltered and cursed to himself in his head. He had completely blanked on why he’d come to look for Marco in the first place. And now his chest and head were filling up with very different ideas.

He laughed to himself just then, looking down at his hands with freshly painted black nails. “You know, thinking about it . . . kinda sucks that our favorite band had to be wiped off the planet. It’s a little funny, but not? Just like, it’s one of those things you don’t think about because you’re thinking about everyone in  _ your  _ life. But now it’s done and it’s like, well, there goes the music.”

Marco raised her eyebrow for a moment, arms folded loosely against her chest as Tom spoke. Then a short laugh escaped her lips, in spite of herself. Tom really was adorable and awkward most of the time. And when you’re cooped up in a house during a world-ending timeline, you can’t help but to let your heart fall a little bit in love. Especially when, well, you already knew each other before the world had even begun to  _ think  _ about ending.

“That was stupid and insensitive, sorry,” Tom shifted, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck. “I just . . . thought maybe one more night of reminiscing wouldn’t hurt.”

Marco looked down at her bare feet for a moment, shuffling them before making the decision to step closer to him. “You still owe me a rematch game of ping pong, you know,” she grinned smugly, lifting her head back up to look at Tom with soft eyes of determination and humor. 

Their eyes met again like so many times before, but with a sudden lifetime of befores and afters. So much was riding on the plan beginning tomorrow morning, and there was nothing set in stone for who would see it through to the end and who wouldn’t.

That much, they both knew indefinitely.

“Hah, yeah I do,” Tom smiled back, biting down on his lip as both hands made their way into his black ripped jeans’ pockets as he leaned against the doorframe to keep himself from stumbling over his own words. “Seems like forever ago all that happened, huh?”

“Yeah. It kinda does,” Marco spoke almost solemnly, neither of their eyes breaking away from each other. It was intense, almost purposeful. Like a contest to see who would either look away first or act on their own stupid thought first. And unfortunately for Marco, she was coming dangerously close to losing the game.

Or maybe she already had. Maybe she’d lost the day she trusted Tom and let him back in. Maybe there were no choices left, and a world of second chances. After all, they were giving the chance that Jackie and Star were still alive and could be busted out a shot. The world was changing . . . but maybe it didn’t  _ just  _ have to be for the worst.

Maybe, just maybe, Marco could start to take back control of her own world a step at a time. 

“Listen, Marco, if . . . if things go south after tomorrow,” Tom drifted off, bringing his hands up out of his pockets to find themselves resting on her arms. The action sent shivers up her spine, heart picking up momentum against her ribs and the all too familiar sinking of her stomach sending the butterflies up into her throat. 

Marco was almost vibrating, every inch of her teenage self screaming at her to say or do something. Her heart aching for the very thing she had been afraid of since the night they ran into each other. Her brain calling out against everything she knew that the heart so desperately wanted. 

“I just wanted to say . . . I- I’m sorry,” Tom finally spluttered out, eyebrows drawing in tight together. “I’m sorry for before. And I’m sorry for shooting you in the leg. And I’m sorry if you still aren’t sure if you can trust me or believe me, but . . . you let me in either way. And I promise you that I’m telling the truth. And I swear I’m going to get you into that base no matter what. You don’t have to believe me, but-”

“I do,” Marco interrupted, suddenly throwing her hands up and talking wildly with them in every direction. “Tom, look, I trust you. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how. But, look, the world is crazy enough as it is right now and of all things, freaking  _ aliens _ are happening and our best friends are somewhere out there in this crazy, nonsensical, creepy, empty, dying world, and I-”

_ Lips. Warm, pierced lips will interrupt your train of thought and even more importantly, interrupt your rant. And it’s going to take you a minute to realize what the heck just happened.  _

_ But then once you do, it starts to make sense. You don’t know how, but it just does. And that’s when you find that not only did Tom Lucitor  _ kiss you _ , but that he’s continuing to kiss you.  _

_ It’s surprisingly sweet, not that you’re sure why it wouldn’t have been. But everything about this moment is surprising you, and your little teenage girl brain turns into a puddle along with the rest of you.  _

_ You decide that you like kissing Tom. And you’re hoping that he likes it, too, and isn’t just doing it because it could literally be the last time you two ever see each other again. Or because he’s still planning on double crossing you, and turning out to be everything you were afraid he could be. _

_ But all that aside, past Marco, this is where those blurred lines you have been so careful as to not cross, have been casually and carelessly vaulted over.  _

_ And you decide that you don’t care. Be it the world ends before you even get to the base, be it that Tom  _ does  _ decide to turn the plan around and stab you in the back, you don’t care. Not right now. The world is falling apart, and you’ve been too busy being the Safe Kid. Screw all that. Live like you were always meant to  _ before  _ The Added began to tear the world asunder.  _

_ Live to be the girl you always admired from afar. Live like tomorrow is going to be your last day. If you don’t regret your actions now, then you might just regret never having them to begin with. _

_ Throwing caution to the wind might not have been the  _ smartest  _ thing to do right now, but in your heart you feel it’s the  _ right  _ thing. Even if it meant kissing Tom Lucitor, and liking it. _

_ Be free. Especially now in a world that doesn’t get a say in freedom anymore. But I won’t tell you if it’ll work out for either of you in the end or not. _

_ That, past Marco, is something that I am keeping to myself. You’ll find out on your own, in time, whether your choice to both trust  _ and  _ kiss Tom was right. It’s not my place to tell you. You’re in control now, so enjoy it. Because starting tomorrow, you’re going to lose a lot of your grit physically and mentally.  _

_ I can only promise you to keep going. I can only ask you to hold onto every word and lesson Tom gave you. And I can only promise that no matter what you’re feeling or thinking in the moment, go for it. Take caution, but run.  _

_ How do you beat humanity? By ripping it from us first. But you’ll remember your humanity in that kiss. You’ll remember it in your healed leg. And then, when it counts the most, you’ll remember it in your mission.  _

_ So enjoy where you are right now. Enjoy your kiss. Enjoy the gentle hands that Tom brings up around your face, thumbs running slowly against your cheeks. Enjoy the way his warm breath feels on your lips. Enjoy the taste of your kiss. And enjoy the way he compliments your eyes, fingers slowly brushing through your ponytail with adoration and sincerity as he tells you how pretty you’ve become.  _

_ And most of all, enjoy the company you two share right now. The closeness of your bodies, your arms slowly draping their way around his shoulders. Enjoy that pure touch of  _ humanity _. The sense that the world is alright for a little while, and everything is as it should be for a couple of teens. Enjoy what’s there for the moment, because it’ll be the longest and closest moment you two will share for a while.  _

_ Both of your hearts may be racing, both of your minds unsure of where to go next before the sun rises up tomorrow over the woods you called home once and place your plans into action. But it’s okay. _

_ Just enjoy the moment. Because you hadn’t been able to enjoy a single breath between your lips since the day the world began to fall apart. _

_ Enjoy it because it’s all you have left to hold onto. _

_ Enjoy it because you both  _ want  _ to. _

_ And enjoy it because in the thick of it all, you realized that you missed him . . . and now you undoubtedly had feelings for him from the start. You might be speaking too soon, feeling too strongly, but you can’t help it. Tom had been there before, and he’s here now. And suddenly you realize why Star had once been his girlfriend, and wonder if she had felt the same captivation you’re feeling now.  _

_ In closing, remember this night. Because it’s the first and last night of comfort and absolution. You don’t know what you’re in for, past Marco, but I do. And you’re going to need to remember not just the night Tom kissed you, but all of the nights before then.  _

_ All of your little talks, his home-made dinners, the changing of your bandages, him helping you into the bath, and all those times he carried you up and down the stairs to and from your bedroom.  _

_ Remember his story, remember that he could have just left you to die out in the woods, and remember that while the world continued to fall, there was some semblance of normalcy between the two of you in that fancy house. Laughing about ping pong games, distantly finishing Love Sentence songs between rooms, and remembering all the times Star had stuck the three of them in some unfortunate, but funny situations. _

_ Remember that you’re both just people with unfortunate ties to this whole mess, though vastly different. You didn’t ask for your world to change, and he didn’t ask to be a part of that change. _

_ Remember all of that, and I promise you’ll be okay. _

_ Trusting Tom?  _

_ Well, that  _ might  _ have been the smartest thing you decided to do since you ran away from the refugee camp four weeks ago. _

_ But you didn’t hear that from me. _


	5. I Wonder When I'll Hit the Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! We're at the end of the mini multi-part fic! I have to say though, this chapter was not my easiest out of all of them to write. I struggled a little bit, only because there was SO MUCH INFORMATION that I would have to input for Star and Jackie's end of the story, but I just simply didn't know a way to do that without making three more chapters or making this one exceptionally too long. So I apologize if their side of things is vague, but I again encourage you to read the book series, as this was just a simple AU that I didn't exactly plan detail to detail for.
> 
> That also being said, SORRY ABOUT THE ENDING BEFORE HAND! If you know the books, then you'll know that this isn't where it stops and things will kind of both come back and turn around again. If you don't know the books, you're in for some SUPER surprises and turns when you get your hands on them, I assure you!
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this little mini AU. It was super fun to write, and I had a great time letting it all flow out of my head and onto a document after thinking about it for a while.
> 
> ALSO, headcanon time: Jackie is a They/Them lesbian (for me, personally) and sometimes just goes by Jack. This will be played out in this fic, and probably a majority of my other SVTFOE fanfics that include Jackie in them.
> 
> Enjoy, thank you for seeing this through to the end with me, and happy reading! ♥

_ I’ve never killed anyone before. But when the world starts to fall apart and you’re faced with life or death situations around every corner, you find that you would much rather be on the side of living than not. _

_ And in the span of twenty minutes since arriving at the makeshift military base with Tom at my side, becoming separated into different sorting groups, and meeting sketchy Added “medical professionals”, I have not only killed one person, but have also knocked out two military officials and climbed my way through a fair share of ventilation ducts to last me for the rest of my life. _

_ That is, if I get  _ through  _ the rest of my life first. _

_ I’ve not yet seen a glimpse of Star or Jackie. And I have no idea where Tom is. It almost feels like this plan is quickly crumbling to pieces, but I’m too determined to stop now. I’ve made it this far, I’ve been suited up in a too-perfectly fitted military uniform, and I’ve managed to piss off every personnel both medical and government to the point of being searched for. _

_ I got this. I think. _

The sirens wouldn’t shut up and it was starting to give her a headache. Marco didn’t know where she was anymore, in this labyrinth of white hallways with giant windows, padlocks for damn near every door, and random squadron orders being prattled out over the loudspeaker alongside the sirens.

She had to find Star and Jackie. And then Tom. Unless Tom was already dead. Marco kicked herself for thinking that way. Of course he wasn’t dead. He was vital to them, after all, was he not? Surely, The Added wouldn’t kill off one of their Trackers. Right?

After a few lost turns in several corridors and one lone flight of stairs, Marco finally stumbled across some elevators down yet another long, white hallway. And luckily for her, it came with nobody else around to question who she was or why she was there. 

**_Floor 2_ ** _ ,  _ she read on the wall above the elevator’s buttons. She was too high up. All of the kids and squads would have been on the main floors. At least, that’s what Tom had told her. The second, third, and fourth floors were reserved for both medical personnel, commanding officers, and mess halls. The first floor was specifically for all squadrons to be briefed, and to sleep.

“Shoot,” Marco mumbled to herself, jamming her thumb forcibly onto the down arrow button. She was running out of time to keep the act up, and knew it. Furthermore, she didn’t even know  _ how _ to start looking for her friends before time ran dry.

This really was a crap-shoot, and in that moment Marco realized why Tom had been so hesitant as to agree with her. They were both in trouble now, and if Tom wasn’t already dead, then he was either long gone by now not wanting to wait up for her fumbling schemes, or lost in a sea of evacuating teens and children.

That’s right: the entire base was being evacuated in order to execute their final plan. The kids weren’t expendable, so The Added needed all of them safe before blowing the rest of what was left of the world to its last bits. 

Finding Star and Jack had never felt more crucial until that little detail stared Marco down in the form of a way too friendly nurse.

“Come on, come on come on come  _ oooonnn _ ,” Marco grumbled a little too loudly under the blares of sirens and prattling of orders overhead. She tossed her hands up when the elevator didn’t even make an attempt to start moving between floors, jabbing her thumb repeatedly over the down button in frustration.

“MOVE ALREADY, COME ON!”

_ And out of the corner of your eye, in all of your frustration, you’ll see movement. And realize you’re not as alone as you once thought you were. How ironic, right? _

_ You’re cautious at first. You don’t move. But then the movement becomes closer and even though everything around you is louder than your heart that’s beating in your ears, you catch the faint sounds of boots stomping against tile and coming in closer behind you. _

_ You’ll realize you’re in trouble. But here’s the thing: you’ve killed one person already, and you’re damn near willing to do anything at this point to survive and see this through to the end. _

_ So you reach down, subtly, with your right hand and pull the military issued pistol you shoved into one of the many side pockets of your cargo pants and whirl around with it raised in both hands, just like Tom had showed you, all the while your ponytail hits you against the cheek with a stinging force. Your eyes are intense, focused, wide, and fixed on the figure who’d made their way up the hall towards you. _

_ It’s then that you realize it’s not just one person, but two. _

_ It takes you another second and two sets of raised hands with a blurry-eyed focus to realize you’re staring down some familiar faces. _

“Woah, woah  _ woah stop _ ! Marco? Marco! It’s Jackie! Jackie Lynn Thomas! We went to the same school together,” Jack held both of their hands up, suddenly staring very dangerously down the barrel of a pistol with an equally intense and frightened looking Marco Diaz behind it. Beside them, Star had jumped with a squeak, hands thrown up just as immediately as Jackie’s had been. 

Jackie looked nothing short of exhausted and damn near wasted away. They were dressed in the same perfect fitting military uniform as Marco, blonde hair buzzed cut in the back, bangs falling just over their eyebrows. They were dirty, breathless, and no doubt tired . . . but also very much alive.

And so was Star; her own blonde hair wrapped up tightly into two perfect high-top buns, military outfit also donned, and eyes looking both relieved at the sight of her best friend and afraid that same best friend was going to pull the trigger at any moment.

“What . . .?” Marco whispered in near disbelief, eyes softening as she peered over the gun still raised in her hands.

“Yeah,” Jack grinned as they cautiously stepped closer to Marco and her loaded weapon, both hands wrapping themselves around the barrel before slowly lifting it out of Marco’s fearful grip. “It’s us, Marco. It’s cool, alright?”

“Holy . . .” Marco let out her tense breath, eyes darting between her military clad best friends almost as if she couldn’t believe she was actually seeing them in person. It felt too good to be true, her luck far too easy.

“Really? Really you two? Not . . .?”

“Oh no, no, no,” Star shook her head a little too eagerly, dropping both hands at her side. “We took care of that about two weeks ago. And have the scars to prove it!” She proudly proclaimed, turning to the side to show Marco a very fresh and very red vertical incision on the side of her neck.

“Janna figured it out,” Jackie filled in quickly as Marco inspected the injury, returning the pistol back into neutral and placing it back into Marco’s pocket. “So our entire squad removed our implants and had been trying to find a way outta here since then. Sorry to say that Star and I are all that’s left of Squad 83.”

Marco felt her heart sink at the news, then flung her arms around Star in a tight hug and then Jackie, gratefulness spreading throughout her body like a warm blanket. 

They were alive, they were aware, and they had been trying to get back to her just as much as she had been to them.

“Waaiiitt . . .” Star narrowed her eyes, looking skeptically at Marco as the elevator bell finally sounded for their bottom floor decent. “Marco, not that I’m unhappy to see you and not for nothing, but . . .” her look drifted up to her girlfriend as the three entered the elevator, unsure how to sound anything less than ungrateful.

“How’d you know where to find us?” Jack finished for their girlfriend, jabbing the  _**FLOOR 1** _ button before crossing their arms, leaning against the wall adjacent to where Marco stood.

“I uhm,” Marco felt her face get hot, brows drawing together with a gentle bite down onto her lip. “I may have had some outsider slash insider help.”

Star frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Marco, the rest of us have all been either here or dead. Who could possibly-”

“I ran into Tom,” Marco interrupted nervously, balling her hands up into fists at her side. “Or . . . rather  _ he  _ ran into  _ me _ . In the woods. At night. A-after shooting me in the leg earlier that day and-”

_ You’ll retell the entire month’s events in the short elevator ride to the best of your ability. Because you know that once those doors open, there will be no room for talk. And you owe Star and Jackie the truth. _

_ You also read their faces of horror, then disbelief, then confusion, then distrust, and confusion again. You don’t even leave out the kiss, because why should you keep something like that from your best friends, especially now? _

_ But the surprising thing you’ll find is that neither of them argue with you about it. They never tell you that it all sounds too wild, so out there, and maybe you shouldn’t have trusted Tom to begin with. They simply take in the information you give them, and prepare for the final bust out of here, alive and away from the madness that’s unfolded. _

_ But they also don’t save the burning question that you’re also wanting to know the answer to. _

“So where is he now?” Jackie asked, readying the M16 assault rifle strapped around their chest with such effortless precision that it sent chills down Marco’s spine. No child, or teenager, should know how to clip an assault rifle in the 0.2 seconds it took for Jackie to. 

“I . . I don’t know,” Marco answered softly, eyes cast down at her feet. “We had to split up when we got sorted. I . . . I haven’t seen him.” 

_ And you won’t see him, past Marco. Not when you, Jack, and Star fight your way out of the crowds of kids and teenagers boarding military issued planes for evacuation. Not when the entire building starts to crumble as Tom’s end of the bargain is executed in a splendor blaze of explosions and destruction behind you as the three of you run for your very last lives. _

_ You’ll want to turn back and try to find him as Jackie hops into the first Humvee they spot and yell at you both to get in. But you know you can’t.  _

_ ‘Whatever happens, Marco, keep running. Promise me you’ll keep running,’ had been one of the last sentences you heard Tom say. And how foolish you were to agree to that promise, knowing that you would have no other options  _ than  _ to keep running. So you agreed in any regard. _

_ The three of you will drive what seems like forever, but is really just long enough to be at least five to ten miles away from the crumbling structure, from the roaring helicopters that were overhead, and away from the hope that maybe, just maybe, you would be in the presence of Tom Lucitor once more. _

_ Jackie will park under an overpass on a long and barren stretch of highway, and you’ll feel numb. You’ll start crying, because despite everything, you knew that this could happen. You had both discussed in great detail the consequences of this plan, and in knowing that only one of you would see it through to the bitter end. _

_ You don’t know if Tom is alive, dead, or had been recaptured by The Added or not. But it’s not exactly the ‘don’t know’ that’s eating away at your insides. It’s the ‘you might not ever know’.  _

_ So as the night begins to fall and you’re huddled in the back of a stolen Humvee between your two best friends, you send a hopeful wish to the clear and starry night sky above. Because as lavish and out there this plan was to save your best friends, it worked. You’re smushed comfortably in between two familiar bodies, and the world once again feels okay. _

_ So maybe this isn’t over yet. Maybe you’ll see Tom again. He’d known how to find and follow you before, all those weeks that now seemed so long ago. Who’s to say it couldn’t be the same moving forward? _

Marco, unable to sleep, was standing atop the roof of the Humvee while her friends beneath her sneakers slept peacefully. She had long since shed the military jacket back to wearing her comfortable red t-shirt, letting her ponytail hang just a bit more loose as it blew gently in the cool breeze of the night.

Her eyes were focused in the direction they came from, hopeful and searching, even though she knew it couldn’t be that easy. Nothing leading up to this rescue had been easy, and it sure as anything wouldn’t start now.

_ ‘I wanted to thank you,’ Marco said in the dead quiet of the night as they laid together in Tom’s bedroom. She was wrapped up in his arms, her eyes blissfully looking out the open window over his shoulder into the clear and quiet night above them. _

_ ‘For what?’ Tom had sounded surprised, fingers smoothly and gently brushing their way through her hair. _

_ ‘You saved my life.’ _

_ Tom had let a light chuckle escape from deep in his chest, wrapping both of his arms tighter around her, head tucked under his chin. ‘Well. That was after I shot you.’ _

_ ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Marco responded immediately, with resonance. ‘You could have left me out in the woods that night. You didn’t. So thank you.’ _

_ He hesitates for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say back. But he can’t compete with what he knew was the right thing to do, so he holds her close and kisses her head.  _

_ ‘It was the right thing to do.’ _

“The right thing to do,” Marco whispers softly into the darkness, the blinking stars above her head at the mercy of her call.

A cold wind blew through her hair, carrying her words far beyond the safety of a Humvee rooftop and into the vast nothingness of yet another unforgiving night in a once again all too silent world.

A world that still laid uncertain before her and had abruptly crumbled behind her.


End file.
